Beginning Monday, Oct. 3, the Elizabeth River Tunnels (ERT) Project will open the second lane of the U.S. 58 East Midtown Tunnel each weekday morning to help alleviate morning rush hour congestion from Portsmouth to Norfolk.

PORTSMOUTH -- Beginning Monday, Oct. 3, the Elizabeth River Tunnels (ERT) Project will open the second lane of the U.S. 58 East Midtown Tunnel each weekday morning to help alleviate morning rush hour congestion from Portsmouth to Norfolk. Both lanes of the eastbound tunnel will remain open from 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. each weekday through the end of rehabilitation.

Beginning Monday, there will be a new traffic pattern entering the eastbound tunnel: - Motorists heading to Brambleton Avenue and Downtown Norfolk should stay in the right lane on the Portsmouth side prior to entering the Midtown Tunnel. - Motorists continuing down Hampton Boulevard should stay in the left lane prior to entering the tunnel.

Changing lanes inside the tunnel is prohibited and will also be restricted at the tunnel’s exit on the Norfolk side.

Motorists should expect the U.S. 58 East Midtown Tunnel to continue single lane closures outside of weekday morning rush hour, as well anticipate full weekend tunnel closures while construction continues.

Full weekend closures of the U.S. 58 East Midtown Tunnel are expected to continue, excluding holidays, until Q1 2017. U.S. 58 West traffic will not be impacted. When rehabilitation of the U.S. 58 East Midtown Tunnel is complete, it will look similar to the rehabilitated Downtown Tunnels.

A schedule of construction-related closures and alternate routes can be found on DriveERT.com. Motorists should visit www.511Virginia.org, call 511 or the VDOT Traffic Information Line at 757-361-3016, and listen to the Hampton Roads Highway Advisory Radio (HAR) 1680 AM for current traffic and travel information. For more information, visit http://www.DriveERT.com or follow us on Twitter @DriveERT.